Card file compressor and lock



May 29, 1962 R. L. MYERS 3,036,577

CARD FILE COMPRESSOR AND LOCK Original Filed Dec. 24', 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 56 4| INVENTOR. F Raymond L.mger's Qgi ni L ATTORNEY May 29, 1962 R. L. MYERS 3,036,577

CARD FILE COMPRESSOR AND LOCK Original Filed Dec. 24, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Raymond. L. mqer 5 cg m1.

Unite States Patent 3,036,577 CARD FILE MPRESSOR AND LGCK Raymond L. Myers, Vestal, N.Y., assignor to Ray Myers Corporation, Endicott, N.Y., a corporation of New York Continuation of application Ser. No. 630,203, Dec. 24,

1956. This application Mar. 26, 1959, Ser. No. 808,545

4 marinas. (Cl. 12928) This case relates to file card trays, and more particularly to a compressor slidably mounted in the tray and associated locking means for releasably holding the compressor immovable in a card compressing position.

Various types of locking devices have been provided for locking a card compressor in position for holding a group of cards tightly compressed within the tray, but many of these devices have been complicated in structure or have depended upon means which looks the compressor to the tray bottom. I have provided a file tray in which a compressor is slidably mounted on one side wall only and thus leaves the tray bottom unobstructed.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a compressor locking mechanism actuated by moving the compressor into tight engagement with the cards which serves to lock the compressor in position within the tray so that the cards are held compressed thereafter until the compressor is manually released.

A further object is to provide a compressor with a resiliently urged card compressing. wall which is adapted to be brought up tightly against the cards, and when the wall is moved rea-rwardly by that pressure, it releases a spring loaded locking mechanism which prevents movement of the compressor until it is manually released.

A further object is to provide a compressor and tray construction in which the compressor is sliclably mounted on one side wall only of the tray and movement of the compressor into the position of compressing the cards serves to lock the compressor immovably relative to the side wall and which may be readily released by the single act of pressing down on a spring loaded releasing mechanism. Further objects will be apparent in the following disclosure.

Referring to the drawings illustrating two embodiments of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view of a tray having a compressor mounted solely on and releasably locked on a high side wall of the tray and adapted to compress cards against the front wall;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the compressor with its card compressing front wall removed from association with the rear portion and showing the compressor lock in engagement with the rack on the tray Wall;

FIG. 3 is a section of the compressor taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the compressor and its attached slide, looking at the clamping face of the slide and from the left in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the tray of FIG. 6 showing the low side wall and the high side Wall on which the compressor is mounted.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a modified form of compressor with the movable card compressing portion removed from the main casing thereof and showing the compressor lock in engagement with a rack, the tray wall being omitted;

FIG. 7 is an end view, similar to FIG. 4, of the compressor and its attached slide;

FIG. 8 is a perspective detail of the double acting spring which urges the locking lever into and away from a compressor locking position; and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary detail showing the association of the lock and rack of FIG. 6.

Referring first to FIG. 1, the tray there shown in frag mentary outline comprises a high side wall 10, a bottom 11 and a low side wall 12 suitably secured to a front wall portion 13 of desired construction, within which is a set of cards 14- adapted to be compressed against the rear of the front wall by means of a spring urged compressor plate designated generally by the numeral 15 and hereinafter described. The high side wall 10 has a longitudinal trackway (FIGS. 1 and 2) formed of a flanged channel shaped plate 16 centrally secured to the side wall it), as by welding, and provided with outwardly projecting upper and lower aligned flanges 17 spaced from the tray side, as shown in FIG. 2. This track is of standard construction and has a flat central vertical plate portion 16a secured on the tray wall it} which is bent outwardly and then vertically to form the aligned vertical and oppositely extending flanges 17. The compressor casing is rigidly secured to a slide member 19 which has reversely turned channel shaped end portions 18 arranged to project towards each other and to ride on the flanges 17 of the track. The channel shaped portions 18 are formed, as is well understood, by bending the central vertical plate portion at its upper and lower portions first outwardly and then vertically towards each other to form opposed open channels. These parts are so constructed that the compressor support 19 may slide freely along the track- Way except when locked thereto.

The high side wall 10 of the tray, which may be on either side, is provided with a locking rack 20 having a plate 22 provided with downwardly extending teeth sep arated by U-shaped grooves 21 which are adapted to be engaged by a locking member on the compressor. The

. locking rack plate 2.2 is suitably secured to the front portion of the compressor track 16 below the upper flange 17 and faces the slide member 19. This plate 2-2 is inwardly and downwardly turned at its upper edge portion, as shown in FIG. 2, to provide the downwardly depending teeth and locking grooves or slots 21. The compressor comprises an open sided sheet metal casing 23 (FIG. 2) carrying the compressor plate 15, and the casing 2 3 is rigidly attached to the slide 19', as will be described. The compressor plate 15 cooperates with the casing 23 to form a hollow box like structure hereinafter described which encloses the locking parts.

The compressor lock illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 inclu' sive comprises a heavy resilient substantially U-shaped steel wire (FIG. 2) having a double spring action, as will be described. The forward free end 25 of that lock wire passes through a slot 27 in the end wall 26 of the compressor casing 23 and is positioned to be movably engaged in one of the locking grooves 21 against an adjacent tooth of the rack 2%. The end wall 26 and the slide 19, to which the end wall 26 is rigidly secured as by welding, have an L or step-shaped hole therethrough comprising the lower horizontally wide portion 27 and the upper narrower vertically elongated slot 28, shown more particularly in FIG. 4. The top of the wide portion 27 provides a horizontal under surface 29, herein termed a shoulder, which is so constructed and located parallel with the rack 29 as to releasably hold the loclt away from the teeth grooves. When the end 25 of the resilient locking wire is in its uppermost position in the slot 28, it then lies in engagement with one of the locking grooves 2 1 of the rack. The lock end 25 may be held in a lower position at the left hand end of the slot (FIG. 4) by engagement with the upper horizontal shoulder 29 of the L- shaped hole, and it is held by the shoulder free from the rack teeth so that the compressor may be readily slid along the slideway.

The spring which has the locking end 25 is shown as v 33 which terminates at the lock end 25.

seesaw having a U-shaped portion or loop 39 at its left hand end (FIG. 2) and the resiliency of that portion 30 is such as to urge the lock 25 upwardly into its locking engagement the rack when it has been released from the shoulder 29. The lower arm 3]; of the loop 30 rests against the vertical rear wall 36 of the casing 23. The spring wire is also bent at its upper portion to provide a loop 33 which projects through a slot in the upper horizontal wall portion 34 of the compressor casing 23. This upwardly projecting looped part 33 is adapted to be engaged and moved by the operator who manually forces the lock 25 downwardly against the opposing force applied by the spring wire of the loop 30.

The compressor casing 23 is shown in the right hand portion of the exploded view of FIG. 2 as having a rear wall 36 integral with the end wall 26 which carries the slide 19 and with an upper flanged portion 34 and a lower flanged part 32 lying in parallel planes and thus forming substantially a channel. The parts 32 and 34 are outwardly turned to provide the two vertical aligned oppositely extending flanges 38 serving as an abutment slideway and retaining wall for the movable plate 15. The movable card compressing plate (see the left hand part of FIG. 2) is a channel-shaped body having a flat, card-engaging vertical wall or plate 40 and horizontal flanges 41 inturned to provide the vertical aligned flanges 42. These flanges 42 are intended to be positioned at the rear or outside of flanges 38 of the compressor casing 23 (FIG. 4). Thus, the compressor plate 40 may move inwardly toward the main body of the compressor, or towards the right in FIG. 4, through a distance permitted by the relative engagement of its flanges 42 and the inside of plate 40 with the opposite sides of the flanges 38 or a distance defined by the width of the upper and lower flange wall-s 34 and 32. In assembling the parts, the flanges 42 are sliclably hooked around the flange 38 and moved along the same. The compressor body 15 has an end wall 44 at its outer end, but it is open at the end towards the carrier track.

The spring comprising the parts 25, 30 and 33 is confined within the compressor casing 23. The lower arm 31, the loop 30 and the portion of the upper arm to the left of the bend 50 (FIG. 2) form a U-shaped spring wire which lies in a vertical plane against the casing wall 36. The portion 51 of the upper arm to the right of the bend 50 projects laterally away from the wall 36 at a slight angle and is so shaped as to form a spring which urges the lock end laterally beneath the shoulder 29, when permitted. The portion 51 is continuous with the upwardly extending U-shaped manually movable loop The lower arm 31 of the spring is locked in place at the junction of the wall 36 and the flange 32 by means of two lugs 47 struck up from the compressor casing flange 32, as shown at the right hand portion of the exploded view of FIG. 2. The upper arm of the spring wire is held in position by upper loop 33 wihch projects through a slot in the casing. The resiliency of the loop urges the lock end 25 upwardly into the elongated slot 28 when that end 25 is thrust laterally by the pressure of the cards against the compressor wall and the laterally bent arm 51 urges the front locking end 25 forwardly away from the elongated slot portion 28 and into the vertically narrower front part 27, or beneath the shoulder 29.

A primary feature of this invention involves the movement of the locking part 25 into the elongated slot 28 and away from the shoulder 29 by that action involved in compressing the cards. To this end, the movable compressor plate 15 is provided with a U-shaped spring wire having two substantially parallel horizontal arms 55 connected by a vertical end cross piece 55 forming a U- shaped wire, as shown in the left hand portion of the exploded view of FIG. 2. The arms 55 are each bent laterally and centrally at a slight angle and form an apex at 57 (FIG. 3) at which point each varm contacts with the rear of the inside of the vertical flange 42 of the compressor 15 (FIG. 2). The arms 55 extend substantially the length of the compressor and the cross piece 56 and the far firee end of each arm 55 lie in contact with the compressor wall plate 40, so that the spring is confined between that wall and the flange 42, before assembly. When the compressor is assembled on the casing, the flange 38 on the wall 34 (FIG. 4) slides between the apex 57 and flange 42, so that resiliency of the arms 55 and apex 57 tends to hold the compressor plate 4t as far as possible away from the flanges 38 (FIG. 1) but permits compression of the cards to force plate 40 towards the flanges 38 against the action of spring 55, 57. That is, when the compressor plate is slid into place with its flanges 42 overlying the flanges 38 of the main casing, the flanges 38 slide over the top or apex of the V 57 of that spring, so that the spring is now forced inwardly, and it urges the compressor plate to its outermost position as determined by the engagement of the two limiting flanges 42 and 38. Welded to the inner face of the compressor wall 45 is an L-shaped member having an upstanding arm 60. That arm has such a height and is so located that when the parts are properly assembled, the arm 60 is positioned opposite and close to the outwardly extending lock arm 25 of the spring and beyond the bowed part 33 or near the wall 26.

If the compressor is slid along the trackway towards the cards to a position Where the plate 48 engages the cards tightly, then the plate may move inwardly to an extent as determined by the associated flanges 38 and 42. In so moving, it causes the upstanding lug 60 to strike the wire end 25 and move it laterally from a. position beneath the shoulder 29 to one opposite the longer slot portion 28, whereupon the resiliency of the bowed part 30 of the spring in the casing 23 thrusts arm 25 upwardly into the slot 28 and thus into locking engagement with the rack 20. The wire end 25 is only slightly narrower than the width of the slot 28, so that when it lies in that slot it holds the compressor substantially immovable in position. When it is desired to release the cards from com pression, it is merely necessary to push downwardly on the bowed portion 33 of the spring, until the end 25 is out of the slot 28 and the resiliency of the part 50, 51 of the spring thrusts that end portion forward (FIG. 2) into the narrower part of the slot and beneath the shoulder 29. The loop 33 of the spring wire projects upwardly through a slot 63 in the casing wall for a manual operation of the spring. A smooth topped, downwardly opening channel shaped clip 64 may be mounted on the top of the loop 33 with its sides projecting downwardly through the slot. The clip has a horizontal laterally projecting flange 65 which engages the underside of the easing top wall 34- when the lock end 25 is in its uppermost position in the slot 28. The clip 64, which may be considered as a part of the loop 33, is shownin FIG. 4 in -a lowermost position when the lock end 25 has been moved laterally beneath the shoulder 29. When the lock Wire end 25 is in the slot 28, the horizontal flange 65 is in an uppermost position beneath the top wall 34, as shown in FIG. 1. This clip makes it easier on the operators hands in pushing down on the spring. It will now be appreciated that when the operator has pushed down on that part and released the lock 25 from the rack, the compressor may be moved freely along its slideway and brought up either away from or into engagement with the cards.

The modification of the compressor lock shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 comprises the same general constructional features and principles of operation. The structure of the file tray and its locking teeth and ot the compressor casing and the compressor plate are as above described, the modified showing pertaining only to the lock mechanism, the compression spring and associated parts. In that construction, the lock comprises a lever loosely pivoted on a pin 71 secured between the spaced lugs 72 of a clip 73 suitably secured, as by welding, to the rear wall 84 of the card compressor casing. This wall 84 corresponds with the rear compressor casing wall 36 in FIG. 2. The compressor casing is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 as having opposite vertical end walls 74 and 76 integral with the rear wall 84- and between which the spring urged compressor 96 is movably mounted, as will be described. The L- shaped hole 75 through the vertical wall 76 of the casing is shaped the same as the hole 27 and slot 28 shown in FIG. 2. The rocking bar 70 has its outside locking end proportioned to fit in the space of the slot beneath the horizontal shoulder 77 (FIG. 7), which corresponds with the shoulder 29 in FIG. 2, or to slide into the upper elongated slot 78 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

The spring construction, shown separately in FIG. 8, serves to move the locking bar 71) in its two required direotions. It comprises a wire 80 of spring steel having a U-shaped end 81 formed of parallel arms connected as shown. The end 81 straddles locking bar 70 from its under side, as shown in FIG. 6. The spring wire extends rearwardly to a helical spring coil 82 having a horizontal axis and positioned between the casing wall 84 and the bar 70. The coil is a compression type of spring adapted to hold the bar outwardly toward the narrower part of the slot 75 and beneath the shoulder 77. The coil 82 terminates in a free end having an obliquely and vertically depending arm 83 lying against the rear vertical wall 34 of the casing and having its free horizontal end 85 located in the angle between the rear wall 84 and the bottom horizontal wall 86 of the casings. As shown in FlGS. 6 and 8, the wire portion 83 extends from the rear of the coil 82 down the wall 84- to the lower corner of intersection of walls 84 and 86. The wire slopes obliquely and the arm 85 is parallel with the part 80 behind the bar 70. As shown, the coil 82 rests against the rear wall 84 and is thus supported for thrusting the lock bar 70 laterally. The parts 83 and 85 give a proper leverage for moving the locking bar 70 vertically. The channel shape of the casing is formed by the parallel flanges or walls 86 and 89 connected by the vertical plate 84. The arms 80 and 85 and the connecting portion 83 form what may be considered as a U-shaped spring. The spring portion 83 urges the locking lever upwardly into the narrow slot 78, when released from the shoulder 77. Also, the coiled compression part 82 of the spring urges the locking lever 70 laterally from the slot 78 into the lower wider portion of the slot 75 when permitted to move.

An S-shaped slide 88 has its upper end projecting through a slot 98 in the upper wall 89 of the compressor casing (FIG. 6) Which is located just in front of the rear wall 84. The top of this slide member is bent to be horizontal so as to be readily engaged by the operators hand. The lower horizontal flanged portion 90 of the slide 88 has a V-shaped projection 91 lying over and engaging the rocking lock bar 70. A clip 92 is suitably secured at its ends to the side wall 84 and a central raised portion extends over and confines the slide member in position but permits ready movement thereof under the force of gravity so that it always lies against the lock bar. By pushing down on the slide member 88, the lock bar 74) is moved downwardly from the elongated part 78 of the slot, where its outer portion locks into a locking slot 93 of the rack 94, and the compression coil 82 serves to thrust the lock bar 70 laterally so that its top edge portion moves under the shoulder 77 and i there held inoperative by the coiled spring in an inoperative position so that the compressor may be moved readily. The rack bar 94 (FIG. 6) is mounted in front of a flanged plate 16' suitably secured to a side wall of the tray (not shown in FIG. 6) which has its flanges 17' arranged to form a slideway for the channels 18 of the slide member 19' which is in turn secured to the compressor casing 15. These parts 15', 16', 17, 18' and 19' correspond in shape and function with the similar parts 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 of the structure of FIGS. 1 and 2 above described.

As in the modification of FIG. 2, the lock lever 70 may be moved automatically into a locking position in the elongated slot 78 by means of the projecting lug 95 of an L-shaped angle iron, shown in dotted outline at the left in FIG. 6, which is suitably welded to the inner vertical face of the cover of the vertical wall 96 of the laterally movable card compressor plate. The projecting lug 95 is so located that, when assembled, it engages the locking member 70 to the right of the end 81 of the spring shown in FIG. 6. The laterally movable card compressor plate 96 is made like the plate 15 as above described and shown at the left in the exploded view of FIG. 6. It has the U-shaped spring member 97 provided with the laterally bowed V portions 98 which engage the flanges 99 of the main casing and thus hold the compressor plate 96 outwardly away from that casing, as above described With reference to FIG. 2. The inwardly turned flanges 100 of the plate 96 limit the lateral movement of the compressor plate by contact with the outwardly flaring aligned flanges 99 of the main casing. When in an outward free position, the lug 95 is out of contact with the locking end 79 of the swinging lever, but when the compressor is brought snugly up against the cards 14- in the tray, then the lug 95 on the movable compressor plate thrusts the locking lever 70 laterally (FIG. 6) so that the force of the spring arm 80 serves to move the lever upwardly into the narrow slot 78 and thus into locking position Within a space 93 between two teeth of the rack. This prevents further movement of the compressor. Thereafter, to free the compressor, it is merely necessary to thrust downwardly on the slide 88 and allow the spring action of the coil 82 to throw the lever laterally, or towards the front in FIG. 6, and beneath the shoulder 77 Where the spring holds the locking lever in an unlocked position until the compressor plate shall again thrust the lever laterally and up into its locking engagement with the rack.

It will now be appreciated that a card file tray made according to this invention comprises a vertical wall having a horizontal slideway and a series of locking teeth of a rack bar, and the card compressor has a casing or equivalent wall construction which is mounted on a slide and supported on the vertical wall slideway so that the bottom of the tray is free from obstructions heretofore required for supporting a compressor. The compressor casing is releasably locked in a card compressing position by a lock supported Within the casing and arranged to be moved into and out of locking engagement with a locking tooth. That lock may be the end of a separate movable bar or it may be the end of a spring wire. The lock is urged by a double acting spring construction either into locking engagement with the tray wall locking tooth or laterally to a position where it is held by a shoulder on the compressor casing.

The cards in the tray are compressed by a separate compressor wall mounted on the casing and resiliently urged towards the cards. This wall carries a member which is arranged to move the lock from beneath its restraining shoulder and allow it to be moved by spring action into a locking position when the compressor is forcibly moved to compress the cards. Thereafter, the cards remain compressed because of the spring action of the compressor plate and the fact that the casing which carries the compressor plate is held immovable relative to the tray wall. To release the cards from their compressed condition and to permit moving the compressor rearwardly, a manually operable member is arranged to move the lock from its locking position to a point Where it is urged laterally by the associated spring to a position beneath the shoulder. Then, the compressor may be moved readily as desired until it is once more brought up against the cards in the tray and the front compressing wall is forced rearwardly to such an extent as to move the lock from its shoulder engaging position and allow the spring to thrust it into a locking position. This construction is therefore substantially automatic in its locking the cards in a compressed condition and the compression may be quickly released by the simple act of thrusting downwardly on the release slide which moves the look from its locking tooth to a position where the spring action thrusts it under the shoulder.

It will now be appreciated that various modifications may be made in this construction within the scope of the invention above defined and that the drawings and description are to be interpreted as illustrating preferred embodiments of the invention without imposing limitations on the appended claims.

This case is a continuation for my prior patent application Serial Number 630,203, filed December 24, 1956, now abandoned.

I claim:

1. A card file tray comprising walls including a bottom and a vertical side wall which form a support for a set of file cards, a slideway on the side wall extending longitudinally of the tray, a longitudinal rack bar on the side wall parallel with the slideway which has a set of locking teeth, a card compressor casing having rigidly connected vertical side and end walls, a slide on the outside of said end wall which is movably mounted on the slideway, a lock member having a movable lock end, said lock end extending outwardly of said end wall and adjacent said rack bar, means for mounting the member on the casing for vertical and lateral movement of said end so that the lock end may move vertically into engagement with and away from a tooth of the rack bar as well as laterally longitudinally of the rack bar, said casing having a part providing a shoulder parallel with the rack bar, said lock member being movable to a released position wherein it is located beneath said shoulder to hold the lock end away from the rack bar teeth, said casing providing a space adjacent said shoulder, said lock member being movable away from said shoulder to a locked position wherein the member is located in said space and said lock end engages a rack bar tooth, resilient means carried by said casing for urging said lock member to move both vertically towards a tooth and laterally beneath the shoulder, a movable card engagable compressor plate parallel with said casing side wall, means for movably supporting said plate on the casing for movement towards and from said casing side wall, means which resiliently urges the plate away from the casing side Wall for compressing cards engaging the outside of the plate, means carried by the movable plate for engaging said lock member to move it laterally and release it from said shoulder when the plate moves towards said casing wall as the casing is moved against cards in the tray to compress cards against the plate and so cause the lock end to engage a tooth, said lock end and tooth holding the casing stationary with said plate in a card compressing position, and manually actuated means to move the locking end vertically away from a tooth into a position where said resilient means moves the lock member laterally beneath the shoulder and thus holds the compressor casing released for free movement along the slideway.

2. A device according to claim 1 in which the lock member is a bar loosely pivoted within the casing for movement both laterally and vertically, and the resilient means comprises a spring wire mounted in engagement with the casing side wall and with the side of the bar for moving the bar laterally, said wire having a resilient portion engaging the bar to move it vertically against a locking tooth.

3. A card file tray according to claim 1 in which the compressor casing end wall is positioned near said rack teeth and it is provided with a substantially L-shaped opening forming said shoulder and a locking slot, and wherein the lock end projects through said opening and is movable from beneath the shoulder into the slot and into engagement with a rack tooth, and the resilient means is a double acting spring which both urges the lock end vertically into said slot in contact with a tooth and laterally to a position beneath said shoulder when the lock end is removed from the tooth.

4. A device according to claim 1 in which the lock end and the resilient means are formed as a substantially U-shaped resilient spring in which the end of the spring is the lock end and the U-shaped portion serves to urge the lock end into engagement with a locking tooth, and said spring having a bent portion extending laterally away from the casing side which urges the lock end laterally to a position beneath the shoulder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,160,267 Griswold May 30, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS 693,908 Great Britain July 8, 1953 525,885 Belgium June 22, 1956 1,133,631 France Nov. 19, 1956 

